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Tim Cook on FBI fight: 'This case is not about one phone. This case is about the future'

"This case is not about one phone. This case is about the future," Tim Cook said to David Muir on ABC World News Tonight Wednesday.

"What is at stake here is: Can the government compel Apple to write software that we believe would make hundreds of millions of customers vulnerable around the world, including the U.S. and also trample civil liberties that are at the basic foundation at what this country was made on?"

Cook went further, calling the software the FBI is asking it to write — in order to gain access to a phone belonging to the shooter in the San Bernardino attack that killed 14 in December — "the software equivalent of cancer." Earlier this month, a judge ordered Apple to create a so-called backdoor for the FBI to hack the shooter's work-issued iPhone. Apple revealed the FBI is asking it to create the software because a San Bernardino County employee reset the Apple ID associated with the iPhone 5C in an attempt to access the data, bungling future attempts to get in. The gunman, Syed Farook, worked for the county.

When asked about polls that indicate more Americans side with the FBI rather than Apple in this case, Cook responded, "this is not about a poll, it is about the future."

"We need to stand tall and stand tall on principle. Our job is to protect our customers," he said.

An uncomfortable position

In the interview, Cook acknowledged that the company is in an uncomfortable position in regards to this case.

"This is not a position that we would like to be in. It is a very uncomfortable position. To oppose your government on something doesn't feel right. And to oppose it on something where we are advocating on civil liberties which they are supposed to protect, it is incredibly ironic."

Cook acknowledged that in a perfect world, he would be willing to unlock the iPhone used by Farook. "But we don't live in a perfect world."

He also insinuated that Apple was blindsided by the government's motion to compel the company to unlock the iPhone. "We found out about the filing from the press and I don't think the railroad should be run."

"I don't think something so important to this country should be handled this way," he added.

Although Cook said he hadn't spoken to President Barack Obama about this issue, he said he would.

Cook also said he "remains confident" that Apple can come to some sort of agreement with the government — and with legislators — regarding this case. "I have great hope still that we can come together."

Civil liberties and public safety

Cook frequently cited civil liberties — as well as public safety — as the reasons it is so against creating software that would allow the FBI to bypass the lock screen used by Farook. Civil liberties would be at risk if Apple did create the software the FBI wants it to build, he said.

"This is about civil liberties and is about people's ability to protect themselves."

When the issue of encryption came up, Cook was quick to point out that "Apple doesn't own encryption" and that the U.S. government funds encryption projects.

He also said that, "if we take encryption away, the only people who will be affected are the bad people."

Beyond the civil liberties argument for not creating software to unlock the phone, Cook cited public safety as a very real concern.

"I know people like to frame this argument as privacy versus national security. That is overly simplistic and it is not true. It's also about public safety."

He went on to discuss the amount of personal information users store on their phones, underscoring the importance that that data not fall into the wrong hands. Citing the millions of Americans who have had their financial data hacked, Cook said that creating the unlocking software would put public safety for its hundreds of millions of customers at risk.

Apple's biggest challenge

When asked by Muir if this was the biggest challenge he has faced as CEO, Cook slightly hedged, before acknowledging that this is "right up there."

"In a few weeks, Apple will turn 40. Apple could have only been started in America. We love deeply our country. What's at stake here is, should be we be compelled to write software that we believe would make vulnerable hundreds of millions of people and trample on civil liberties. That is what is at stake."

Cook said Apple was prepared to take this case all the way to the Supreme Court "because I think it is that important."

But in the interview, Cook all but said he thinks the issue should be decided by laws and not in the courts. When asked what Apple would do if there is indeed legislative action that would require them to create the software he considers cancerous, Cook admitted that, "at the end of the day we have to follow the law just like everybody else."

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